The history of the late Freddie Scappaticci, also known as Stakeknife, represents a long-running scandal of enormous proportions, and there will not be particular surprise that yet another dark twist has emerged.
However, the revelation that hundreds of pages of directly linked MI5 dossiers were not previously handed over to Operation Kenova, which is investigating the Stakeknife case, can still only be regarded as hugely disturbing.
Kenova was set up in 2016 with the intention of establishing all the facts about the activities of Scappaticci, who is believed to have been involved in at least 14 murders during the worst years of The Troubles and died in 2023.
He was a commander in the IRA’s internal security unit, referred to by republicans as the “Nutting Squad”, which was responsible for identifying and brutally killing informers, but was at the same time one of the British Army’s most valuable agents.
Kenova’s brief was to comprehensively examine the dealings between Scappaticci, his military handlers and the RUC special branch, as well as crucially MI5, as part of a major official inquiry which has already cost over £40m.
MI5 was ordered to present all its files to Kenova, after which the Public Prosecution Services decided last February that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against anyone connected to Scappaticci.
In an alarming development, it has now emerged that MI5 told Kenova in April that it had uncovered a considerable amount of fresh documentation, reportedly while its archive was being digitised.
Sir Iain Livingstone, who replaced the present PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher as head of Kenova last year, immediately expressed deep concerns about what he described as “significant new material which appears to point to new investigative leads not previously known”.
He said the intelligence was still being assessed, and did not provide further information about murders, but seemed to cast doubt on some aspects of previous witness evidence obtained by Kenova, including the dates when security officials indicated when they first became aware of Stakeknife.
Mr Boucher said that it was an “unacceptable” state of affairs, while Baroness O’Loan, the former police ombudsman who is a member of Kenova’s steering committee, was even more blunt and accused MI5 of behaving “appallingly”.
It has been announced that Kenova’s final report, which was due to be published before Christmas, will have to be delayed until 2025, and it is clear that public confidence in the entire process has been seriously undermined.
Regardless of the ultimate Kenova verdict, many observers have already concluded that MI5 will never allow the full truth about its relationship with Scappaticci to be disclosed.
